Settle Down
by PruCan4evar
Summary: Romano and America have been together for two years and both have decided to do something life changing. Adopt a puppy. Hilarity ensues. Prompt for you-can-call-me-smoke for the Romerica Exchange 2 on Tumblr.
1. For Crying Out Loud

This is for the lovely **you-can-call-me-smoke** on tumblr, who is ever so patient with my extremely late exchange. My new job is killing me and I have yet to actually have a schedule settled. I also planned on doing all 3 prompts they had, but for now this is okay. Also at least I have something to show for now.

* * *

"Babe."

Romano crossed something off of the official document he had in his hand and placed it on the growing pile on his right. He continued onto the next paper stacked to his left, not once breaking his concentration.

"Sweetheart."

His eyes narrowed a bit, but otherwise he continued to ignore what was quickly becoming a distraction of his work. He needed to get this done soon or else he was going to spend the last few days of his vacation working away from home. No way in hell that was going to happen again.

"Babydoll."

The tips of his ears started to become warm and the grip on his pen tightened. America damn well knew which names made him more flustered than normal. But he was NOT going to give in this time! He has too much work to do to pay attention to whatever the idiot has to say at the moment.

"Sugar."

Oh my god he was not going to bring out his southern accent. There's no way he was going to be that cruel. America absolutely _knew_ what that did to Romano. No, no, no, he's gotta stay strong! This paperwork can't wait another day. Romano's eyes stayed glued to the page in front of him, his hands gripping the paper a bit too tight, crinkling it at the edge where his thumb and forefinger held it. He is strong, damnnit. Nothing the other man says is gonna break his concentration-

"Darlin'—"

Romano slammed the paper down and swerved his head to face his big, dumb, grinning boyfriend. The Italian's face was on fire and the paperwork on his desk was quickly forgotten as he glared daggers at the American.

"What do you want, stronzo?" He gritted out through clenched teeth. "It better be damn important because if it's not and I'm wasting my time then I'm kicking your ass out of the room." Lord knows he'll make use of his threat.

America actually had the gall to look a bit sheepish, one hand reaching up and scratching the back of his head, a nervous habit that Romano took immediate notice of, and the other hand hidden securely behind his back, another thing that caught Romano's attention. A small frown appeared on the Italian's face when America shuffled his feet a bit before taking a quick breath.

"Okay, so, the thing is…" And that's when Romano knew something big was about to be dropped into the conversation. "You know how I sometimes help the old lady downstairs with her groceries? Well, her granddaughter was there today- and she's got such a sweet face, Romano you can clearly see she's got her grandmama's eyes- anyway so the little girl and I start talking while I'm helping her grandma move some stuff around her car and she was telling me about this new shelter a couple blocks from her house that got a new shipment of animals last week and how hardly anyone's going in to look at the cute animals, so of course I was absolutely _shocked_ at how that could even happen so I might have sort of gotten directions to the shelter and I might have also passed by a couple times, just to see what all the hype was all about, and I might have sort of almost came close to adopting a couple animals to surprise you but then I remembered that you might want a say in this whole thing so I guess what I'm trying to say is I think we should adopt a puppy."

Romano blinked once, twice, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening his eyes again. Nope, his idiot of a boyfriend was still standing there in all his washed-out blue jeans and white t-shirt glory, sheepish smile still plastered on his face and both hands behind his back as he rocked on the heels of his socked feet. He counted up to 5 in his head before letting out a frustrated sigh.

"So what you're telling me," Romano calmly stated, as America perked up. "Is that you spent the past 10 minutes distracting me from work with those stupid nicknames, all because you wanted to tell me that you want to adopt a puppy."

"Yeah! I mean, you would clearly get first dibs to pick your own-"

"You want to adopt a puppy." Romano got up from his chair slowly and calmly walked over to the unsuspecting blond.

America tilted his head a bit in confusion, not noticing what his boyfriend was up to. "Well, yeah, I mean-"

Romano reached up and grasped the neck of the white crew-neck shirt in his hands, making the tall American lean down a bit so that they were almost nose to nose. "A small, smelly, newly born puppy running around the apartment, ripping up the couches and chairs apart while pissing and crapping wherever the hell it wants. You want me to be perfectly fine with having that terror upon us, when you can't even be bothered to clean up after yourself half the time? And who's going to take care of it when we're not home? What do we do then, you idiot?"

With every sentence said, Romano pushed them backwards until America was just beyond the doorway line. The blonds' expression was crossed between bewildered and dejection. He wasn't expecting the Italian to be 100% into the idea, but to shoot it down so quickly like that...

"Romano, bae, just listen-" He tried once more.

"I have work to do and if you so much as don't let me finish by tonight, the front hallway is your new bedroom." Was all that was said before the office door slammed in his face and he was left in the empty hallway. America ran his fingers through his hair and sighed once, turning to walk down the hall towards the kitchen. Maybe if he brings a snack his boyfriend would calm down a bit.


	2. But You're Losing Your Words

This is for the lovely **you-can-call-me-smoke** on tumblr, who is ever so patient with my extremely late exchange. This got way out of hand and I honestly planned for this to be out last Sunday. Oops.

* * *

That was 2 days ago, and since then, Romano has noticed a slightly dejected America walking around the apartment more often. At first Romano chalked it up to just America moping about the whole puppy thing, but that didn't seem to just be it. The American was more restless than usual, coming and going into rooms only to quickly walk right back out as if he had forgotten why he went in there in the first place. Their conversations were straight to the point, no distractions, no arguments, no real feeling going into them. That worried him, but only to a point. Because if this is all because of not having a stupid puppy around the apartment, then Romano could deal with America having his little tantrum since there is no way he's allowing some dog to shed its smelly fur all over his clean furniture.

Then of course, there was that day Romano had come home early from the grocery store and all thoughts about keeping an animal far away from the house flew out the window. That morning the elevator had been working fine up until the moment he stepped inside one and the doors weren't working and a passing neighbor commented that the elevators were down for the next few hours so he might as well just take the stairs. Grumbling under his breath, Romano hitched the bags over his shoulders and started the long trek up the stairs. Normally he doesn't mind the walk, but he just came back from the store and he was ladled down with bags that were damn sure going to be getting heavy by the time he reaches the 3rd floor. Curse his damn luck.

He had just stopped by the end of the hallway, one floor before he reaches his own, when he was stopped by the sight of America lying flat across his back on the floor, a giant mass of white puff sitting on his stomach. From his perspective, it looked like Alfred had a fight with a cloud and lost, which is ridiculous because the strength on this man was fucking outrageous. Romano squinted his eyes and looked closer, realizing that the American was silently laughing, making the thing on his stomach rise up and down with every heave of breath he expelled. The door to the right of America had opened and a bouncing girl walked out and jumped across America, cleanly making to the other side with a loud giggle. The ball of puff, which now that Romano was watching more closely was actually a white Pomeranian, let out a squeaky bark and leaped from America's stomach and into the waiting arms of the little girl.

America let out a loud snort as he picked himself off the floor, patting out any dust that clung to him. He knelt down on one knee and rubbed the top of the dog's head as he said a few words to the dark-skinned child. Whatever he said made the girl squeal in delight and jump up and down in excitement, making the dog in her small arms shake its tail in excitement as well. Whatever the girl had said was lost in the excitement as she ran back inside the open door to the apartment with a huge smile on her face and a wiggling puppy in her arms. America just smiled and waved into the apartment (probably the owners, Romano thought) and closed the door before turning to walk towards Romano's direction. By the time he looked up and noticed Romano standing right there, Romano had already made up his mind.

Because seeing that small, gentle smile on his boyfriend's face as he gazed at the sight of the small puppy made his insides melt and his cheeks tingled with heat as he saw how gentle he was to the little girl. Romano always knew America had a soft spot for children and animals, but seeing it firsthand made him realize that he really, really wants to see that side of America more.

America froze in mid-stride and nearly stumbled over his own two feet. An embarrassed blush stole across his face but that special smile he always gave Romano wormed its way on his lips. Romano missed that smile more than anything.

"My sun and stars!" America exclaimed as he closed the distance between them and leaned in, arms resting themselves around Romano's waist, tucking the Italian a bit closer to him. The excitement in his tone didn't escape Romano's attention. "You're back a bit early. I was invited over for lunch at the Wilsons' and their baby girl was so excited about the new puppy she got that she just had to let me play with her and, well, I don't know how long you were standing here but I'm sure you saw how cute the little critter was!"

The words were out of his mouth before America remembered that Romano didn't like the topic of dogs in general so he quickly tried to change the subject while reaching down and taking the grocery bags out of Romano's hands. Before he had a chance to shift the bags to one hand and leave the other free to hold onto Romano's hand, the Italian grabbed his face in both hands and drew him in for a slow, sensual kiss that left shivers across his torso and stomach. When Romano pulled back America tried to chase after him but the other man held his face steady in-between his hands. America was confused out of his mind, because Romano wasn't normally one for public displays of affection, even if they were in a deserted hallway at the moment.

Romano's eyes shown with fierce determination, the red that spread across his cheeks and ears didn't distract from this. America could feel that something huge was about to happen right at that very moment. Last time he had seem Romano this fired up after a kiss, they ended up missing a joint meeting the next morning due to a night of surprisingly heavy passion. Romano scraped the tips of his fingers through the side of America's hair just above the ear, and America was eager as hell to see where this was going.

There was a pause of anticipation, when suddenly Romano let go of his face and turned around to walk back up the stairs towards their apartment without a glance back. America was left hurrying after him in blind disbelief, the bitter disappointment of a moment gone at war with the awkward arousal he was experiencing from their shared kiss. Whatever feelings he had at that moment vanished however, the moment he stepped on the last stair before turning into their hallway and see Romano at their doorway already halfway through undressing himself. The only visual clue America got that they were about to do this was the look Romano threw over his shoulder before slowly walking inside with his shirt hanging low and exposing his bare shoulders and neck. America half-stumbled, half-sprinted after Romano inside and placed the bags on the floor before undressing himself as well. The pain from stubbing his foot against the coffee table was forgotten as he reached their bedroom and the rest of the night continued to be one of the best nights they've shared so far.

I planned on this being a 3 part story so the last chapter should be coming soon. I'm stretching for maybe next Sunday? We'll make it a date. Thank you all who have been patient with me.


End file.
